NetSuite Inc Stock Downgraded (N)

NetSuite (NYSE:N) has been downgraded by TheStreet Ratings from from a hold to sell.

Editor's Note: Any reference to TheStreet Ratings and its underlying recommendation does not reflect the opinion of TheStreet, Inc. or any of its contributors including Jim Cramer or Stephanie Link.

NEW YORK ( TheStreet) -- NetSuite (NYSE: N) has been downgraded by TheStreet Ratings from hold to sell. The company's weaknesses can be seen in multiple areas, such as its deteriorating net income, disappointing return on equity, generally high debt management risk, generally disappointing historical performance in the stock itself and feeble growth in its earnings per share.

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Highlights from the ratings report include:

The company, on the basis of change in net income from the same quarter one year ago, has significantly underperformed when compared to that of the S&P 500 and the Software industry. The net income has significantly decreased by 70.5% when compared to the same quarter one year ago, falling from -$13.04 million to -$22.23 million.

Return on equity has greatly decreased when compared to its ROE from the same quarter one year prior. This is a signal of major weakness within the corporation. Compared to other companies in the Software industry and the overall market, NETSUITE INC's return on equity significantly trails that of both the industry average and the S&P 500.

The debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26 is relatively high when compared with the industry average, suggesting a need for better debt level management. Regardless of the company's weak debt-to-equity ratio, N has managed to keep a strong quick ratio of 1.90, which demonstrates the ability to cover short-term cash needs.

The share price of NETSUITE INC has not done very well: it is down 19.90% and has underperformed the S&P 500, in part reflecting the company's sharply declining earnings per share when compared to the year-earlier quarter. The fact that the stock is now selling for less than others in its industry in relation to its current earnings is not reason enough to justify a buy rating at this time.

NETSUITE INC has experienced a steep decline in earnings per share in the most recent quarter in comparison to its performance from the same quarter a year ago. The company has reported a trend of declining earnings per share over the past two years. However, the consensus estimate suggests that this trend should reverse in the coming year. During the past fiscal year, NETSUITE INC reported poor results of -$0.96 versus -$0.49 in the prior year. This year, the market expects an improvement in earnings ($0.26 versus -$0.96).

NetSuite Inc. provides cloud-based financials/enterprise resource planning (ERP) and omnichannel commerce software suites in the United States and internationally. NetSuite has a market cap of $5.74 billion and is part of the technology sector and computer software & services industry. Shares are down 26.7% year to date as of the close of trading on Thursday.